Ice frozen dreams turned golden

Chapter 8

This one-shot takes place two weeks after Lizzie came to live with the Alwyns and contains another flashback. I hope you like it and don't think it's too much...

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"Wait, wait, wait!" Betty exclaimed and rolled over to lay on her back. "Can you explain that again? I still don't get it..." She trailed off, staring at her wall. "I hate chemistry with a passion!"

Lizzie chuckled and rolled her eyes at her dramatic friend. "Look, it's not even that complicated. You got this!"

"No, I haven't got this because I just don't get it," Betty whined, still looking at the ceiling.

"Okay, I will try and explain it again, but you really have to listen to me, Betty. And don't try distracting me again!" Lizzie said in a stern voice, thinking about how her friend had told her all about this old TV show her sisters had been watching, called 'Bridgerton'.

"You can really be a pain in the ass sometimes, Lizzie," her friend sighed but rolled over onto her stomach again, her head now in their chemistry book. 

Lizzie shook her head and then moved over to Betty to point at something in their book. "I figure you still don't get this chart?" she asked her friend, and the blonde nodded her head.

"Okay. So this is the Pauling scale and it's used to range the electronegativity of an element," Lizzie repeated what she had already explained to Betty when she had been distracted with her TV show.

"But what is this electronegativity? Why do I even have to learn about it?" Betty whined again, and Lizzie tried to resist the urge to roll her eyes again. She knew she and Betty were very different people. They were best friends, but still, Lizzie would have never whined about having to learn about something.

But that was probably due to their very different upbringing, and to be fair Betty just didn't like science and maths - she was unmatched when it came to writing speeches or debates. Lizzie was glad they were friends as you could never win an argument with Betty.

So Lizzie suppressed the urge to roll her eyes or sigh and began to explain electronegativity again. And this time, Betty finally slowly understood how to use the Pauling Scale to determine the value of an element's electronegativity and why it was of importance.

"I think I finally get it," Betty exclaimed and bounced up and down on her bed in excitement. "For example, Fluorine is the element with the most electronegativity, and Francium is the one with the least?"

Lizzie nodded her head and joined her friend in her excitement. "Exactly! You got it!"

"And it wasn't even as hard as I thought it would," Betty said, "It's basically just like in Bridgerton. Atoms try to pull electrons to themselves and away from their actual partners. It's like the social season in Bridgerton - the women try to get the most desirable bachelors, and the men try to conquer the 'jewel's' heart. It's hilarious! I wish it had pretty dresses involved though..."

Lizzie shook her head, amazed at her friend. Only Betty could turn the most boring chemistry lesson into something fun and exciting.

"How about we watch an episode of Bridgerton together?" Betty suggested, "after all the studying, we deserve a treat."

To be fair, Lizzie didn't want to watch Bridgerton with Betty. She loved her enthusiasm about it, but some scenes Betty had described sounded a little bit too much for her.

Lizzie glanced at the alarm clock, standing next to Betty's bed, and she forgot everything else. "I don't think I have the time. I was supposed to be home three minutes ago!"